Capital assembled
0
In grants and funding secured, including a $75,000 City of Edmonton matching grant for a 2.5-year economic recovery strategy.
Government & Stakeholder Relations · Edmonton
Stronger relationships. Secured funding. Steady leadership.
Government relations, funding strategy and interim leadership for Edmonton-region nonprofits, associations and community organizations, especially when things get hard. A background in marketing, communications and public relations, eight years as an executive director, and advocacy that led to Council motions and $367,000 in funding.
Taking on new clients
Scroll to connect the dots
01 / The work
Four ways I help you get to yes.
Every engagement is custom quoted to your organization.
Fixed fee for a defined project, monthly retainer for ongoing support, day rate for one-off help. Every one is scoped to your organization.
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01
Fixed fee
Strategic Advocacy Audit
A focused review of the policy ask or funding decision you are stuck on: who actually decides, what they need to hear, and a plan to get it moving. You leave with a clear route through municipal and provincial government, not a binder.
Good fit: an organization with a stalled policy ask or an upcoming funding decision.
3–4 weeks -
02
Monthly retainer
Government Relations Advisory
Ongoing management of your relationships with municipal and provincial government, on your behalf. Public policy advocacy, stakeholder strategy and political navigation, with a monthly brief on what is coming that touches your organization. Relationships across every level of government. Secured $367,000 in government funding through direct advocacy.
Good fit: an organization that needs sustained relationship management with government.
6-month minimum -
03
Part-time retainer
Interim / Fractional Executive Director
Steady, practical leadership when your board is managing a transition or a gap. I run the organization day to day, keep funders and government confident, and hand over a stronger organization than I found. Eight years of executive leadership through a pandemic, a safety crisis and a full recovery.
Good fit: a board managing an executive director transition or gap.
3–12 months -
04
Fixed fee
Grant Strategy Sprint
I build the case, find the money, and line up the relationships that turn a good idea into a funded one: funder research, grant strategy and applications, and a plan to carry it through. $700,000+ in grants and funding secured, including a $75,000 City of Edmonton matching grant.
Good fit: an organization with a specific funding target or application deadline.
4–6 weeks
Who I work with
- Nonprofits & community organizations
- Business associations & chambers
- Arts, culture & tourism organizations
- Revitalization & economic-development bodies
- Provincial & national associations
Board-governed organizations with a specific, time-bound need: a funding decision, a policy ask or a leadership gap.
As needed
Advisory by the hour or day
Board facilitation, one-off strategic planning sessions, and a second opinion before a big decision. Useful when you need an experienced outside view without a longer engagement.
Custom
hourly or daily
02 / Proof
Eight years doing the job, not advising on it.
Won by advocacy
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$167,000 in vandalism and window-repair relief for businesses, plus $200,000 for a safety-focused street team — both secured through direct advocacy, not applications.
At the table
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Letters to Council across two campaigns, producing real Council motions for strategic studies and funding.
Accountable for
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Businesses in one district, an eleven-member board, and a levy-funded budget delivered within fiscal parameters for eight consecutive years.
The landmark
Old Strathcona Street Furniture Project
A $250,000 placemaking build with 75% of the capital cost-shared by Prairies Economic Development Canada. Fifty-plus custom street furniture pieces actually built and installed. Over a million social media views — including a feature on Nathan Fillion's Instagram and Jimmy Kimmel's platform — and a Canadian Tourism Award nomination for Innovator of the Year.
Searchable, third-party verifiable, and still standing. Full case study →
And a line I hold
No success fees. Ever.
No commission, no percentage of any grant or funding award. It is the professional standard, it is what Alberta's Lobbyists Act requires of paid advocacy, and it keeps the advice honest about which door is actually worth knocking on.
What clients say
“We couldn't have submitted our first grant proposal without Cherie Tellier-Klassen. Cherie brought an incredible depth of knowledge around city grants and guided us through the process with clarity, focus, and confidence.”
Michelle ChildsOwner, Velo-West Bike School
“Cherie is a brilliant community advocate and leader. She is a rare mix: genuinely curious about people and new ideas, but straightforward in her analysis and advice. Personable and well-connected. She gets things done.”
Anand PyeFormer CEO, NAIOP Edmonton · Founder, Edmonton Mural Fest
“By far her best asset is her ability to forge connections and build bridges. She's big picture focused, always works for a win-win with her partners, and is very result driven. Her negotiation skills are bar none. If you have a hard problem with complex outcomes, hand it to Cherie. She'll make quick work of it.”
Hussam TungekarDirector of Strategy, Primus Workforce
Further work
Crisis Management and Economic Recovery
A multi-prong COVID-19 response that secured a $75,000 matching grant from the City of Edmonton.
Business Advocacy and Leadership
Two letter-writing campaigns that won $367,000 in municipal funding and a city-led public realm strategy.
Placemaking and Beautification
Turned an underused downtown alley into a landmark public space as part of a pandemic-era placemaking push.
Festive Winter Outdoor Events
Conceptualized and launched Winter Whyte Light Up, growing attendance from a few hundred people to several thousand.
03 / About
Cherie Tellier-Klassen
I ran one of Edmonton's largest business districts for eight years — through a pandemic, a safety crisis, and a full recovery. I know how organizations get unstuck, who has to say yes, and where the money comes from.
That experience travels. Today I work with nonprofits, associations and community organizations across the region, wherever a funding decision, a policy ask or a leadership gap is at stake.
Before that, my background was in marketing, communications and public relations, including provincial marketing strategy at Business Link. I am not a planner and I am not a broker. I am the person who has actually operated the thing everyone else writes reports about.
- Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal2023 — for contributions to Alberta
- Alberta Board Member EssentialsECVO, 2026
- Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+)Government of Canada, 2024
- Public Relations CertificateMount Royal University, 2002
- BA, Communications StudiesUniversity of Calgary, 1998
Currently Co-Chair, People's Advocacy Voice of amiskwacîwâskahikan. Previously Policy Sub-Committee Co-Chair, Women's Advisory Voice of Edmonton; President, Highlands Community League; Treasurer, 124 Street Business Association.
The track record
8 yrs
As Executive Director, Old Strathcona Business Association, 2017–2025.
I was the person accountable: to an eleven-member board, to a levy-funded budget, and to the businesses that paid the levy.
That's not advisory experience. It's operating experience — the kind that comes from actually being accountable when things go sideways, not from writing the report afterward.
- Board members I answered to11
- Years delivered within fiscal parameters8 of 8
- Chair, Edmonton BIA Council2019–2022
- Businesses represented citywide as Chair4,000+
Figures reflect Cherie Tellier-Klassen's tenure as Executive Director, Old Strathcona Business Association.
Old Strathcona’s main street, from crisis to open. Scroll to watch it recover.
04 / Start here
Let's talk it through.
Thirty minutes, no charge. Tell me what's going on and what you've tried. You will get a straight read on what is holding things back and what it would take to fix — whether or not you hire me.
Edmonton, St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Leduc, Beaumont — and anywhere in Alberta worth the drive.